Almirola takes shot at Logano after Texas finish

Almirola takes shot at Logano after Texas finish

Aric Almirola is fired up for the upcoming playoff elimination race, but seemed more fired up about how Joey Logano raced him late Sunday afternoon at Texas Motor Speedway.

Lined up third on a restart with 32 laps to go, Almirola and Logano went into Turn 3 side-by-side when the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford washed up the track. In doing so, Almirola just slightly got into the left-rear quarter panel of Logano’s car, and both drivers lost position.

“F*** him; he’s already won a damn race!” Almirola yelled over the team radio.

Almirola finished eighth and again expressed his displeasure with Logano post-race.

More NASCAR!

“We were a third-place car and that restart there where we finally were in position, we fought all day from the back and started at the tail and worked diligently all day to get up to the front, and finally got ourselves in position to at least have a shot and race with those guys,” Almirola said. “The 22 just went down in Turn 3 and put it right on my door and about wrecked us both. I’m not sure. I’ll have to talk to him.

“He just continues to make things harder on himself. If that is the way he wants to race me when he is already locked into Homestead and we are out here fighting for our lives, that is fine. When Homestead comes around if I am not in, he will know it.”

Asked how far things would go Almirola said, “I’ll just make it really difficult on him. He made it really difficult on me today, which was really unnecessary. He could have run fourth, fifth, 11th, it doesn’t matter. He is still going to go to Homestead and race for a championship; it’s just not smart.”

Logano fought back to finish third. When told of Almirola being upset, Logano said he hadn’t talked to him and wasn’t sure what the fuss was about.

“We were still racing at the end and got hit in the left rear in Turn 3,” said Logano. “There is no outside lane in (Turns) 3 and 4. The tire that Goodyear brought here doesn’t allow a second lane to really work, so I was just trying to hang strong up there. It’s just racing.”

Kelly Crandall

Kelly has been on the NASCAR beat full-time since 2013, and joined RACER as chief NASCAR writer in 2017. Her work has also appeared in NASCAR.com, the NASCAR Illustrated magazine, and NBC Sports. A corporate communications graduate from Central Penn College, Crandall is a two-time George Cunningham Writer of the Year recipient from the National Motorsports Press Association.